There is an episode of the comedy "The Big Bang Theory" in which the characters decide to take a train from Pasadena to San Francisco to attend a conference. Sheldon, the nerdiest and most OCD of the bunch, realizes he's left his flash drive at home and the knowledge eats at him. As the train pulls out of the station and starts its clickety-clack motion, Sheldon starts to whisper to himself along with it, "You forgot your FLASH DRIVE, you forgot your FLASH DRIVE, you forgot your FLASH DRIVE..."

Why do I bring this up? Well, last night I didn't write a THING on my novel. I comforted myself last night that I had written more than my par the previous day, so I was only three hundred words short as I was going to bed. But this morning I woke up with the rhythmic mantra in my head:

"You didn't make your WORD COUNT, you didn't make your WORD COUNT, you didn't make your WORD COUNT..."

Not to mention the smoke detector in the hallway needs a battery change and keeps beeping shrilly and intermittently - seldom enough to make each one a surprise, but often enough to drive you nuts.

I wish my laptop wasn't broken so I could bring it to class with me and type away. As it is it'll be back to good old ink and paper for me just so I can ward away the guilt monkeys.